Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-12-15
MARKETING BUTTER.
Methods Of Packing and Preserving In Ceo
Here and In Europe.


Our butter export trade. like ou'
market for dry goods. has been injured
by poor packing. Thousands of pack.
ages have been ruined because of falsa
economy, and exporters, instead OF re-
ceiving handsome returns, have really
had to pay expenses of transportation,
ETC., besides losing the total value OF
their goods.
However, our dairymen are gradu-
ally learning the art of preserving and
packing, and a few hints here may
help to improve matters still more.
When butter is sold in retail guam.
titles to consumers direct, and the idea
of attracting good customers and high
prices is uppermost strict attention
must be paid to healthy. uniform ap-
pearance. But any artificial ingredi-
ents to secure color will soon be de-
tected-hence should be avoided. Gus
toners who are willing to pay well for
good article always know what they
want and will soon detect fraud.
For this retail trade the butter is
usually made into pound or half pound
rolls, covered with clean muslin cloth.
and the rolls should not be touched
with the hands in handling. When
roll butter for immediate consumption
is to be shipped short distances and
gets into the hands of the middlemen.
good practice is to make a neat
wooden box holding say twelve rolls,
each roll being wrapped in piece OF
muslin cloth. This method has at
tanned great popularity in England and
France.
Another method of preparing butter
for immediate consumption is to pack
in porcelain vessels. in which case it is
usually peddled around the town or
city. some times by the producer and
some times by middleman. and sold
in any quantity desired. For such
purposes tin vessels are Objectionable,
rs they rust easy and injure the flavor
of the butter.
However. in this country, where
mostly all the butter is made in sum-
mer, we are more directly concerned
in preserved butter, packed in such a
manner that it will stand long journeys
or voyages and keep sweet for several
months.
Under this system frkins are used,
and as this country is destined to be-
come one of the greatest dairy cOun-
tries in the world, it will be well to
mention the varieties of timber which
farmers should now commence to grow
in order to supply the demand for
tirkins. 1t is not likely that any mate
rial will surpass wood for cheapness,
convenience and durability. In Hol-
land. France and Ireland oak firkins
are used. while in Schleswig- Holstein
beech. when felled in winter, is re-
garded as the best method of making
them. Eastwood and poplar enter
largely into some methods of packing,
especially for making boxes for roll
butter. On this continent white ash,
spruce and white oak are favorite TIM
bers out of which firkins are made.
However, the kind of wood has less
to do with the tirkin than the method
of preparing it The chief objection to
certain kinds of wood is the ''woody
flavor" which can be removed, al
though by different methods according
to the nature of the flavor. For exam
pie. less effort is required to prepare
In Holland the oak irkins are pre-
pared by sleeping them two hours in
lye and. after pouring off the tye. letting
them stand in the air for day to dry,
after which they are filed with a solu-
ton of alum for twenty-four hours and
left to dry for another day.
just before packing the butter into
them they are thoroughly cleaned with